In the Protestant Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Schlesische Oberlausitz (EKBO), we attach great importance to protection against sexualised violence.
In the face of cases of sexualised violence and also in the Protestant Church, the Church’s mission obliges all those involved in the Church to adopt an attitude of mindfulness and to maintain personal boundaries.

As a project of the EJBO, the EJBO concept for protection against sexualised violence applies to the Ecumenical Youth Services (adopted on 20.03.2022). The EJBO is the youth organisation – The Protestant Youth Berlin-Brandenburg-Schlesische Oberlausitz on the territory of the Protestant Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and schlesische Oberlausitz (EKBO).

Guiding principles
The Ecumenical Youth Services would like all those involved (participants, team members, freelancers, camp partners or cooperation partners) who get involved in the context of the EYS or take part in EYS activities to do so in a climate of freedom from fear and trust.
We want volunteers and professionals to accept the boundaries of others and contribute to raising awareness through their work.
We want volunteers and professionals to take a stand against sexualised violence.

Clarification of terms and definition of sexualised violence
A behaviour is sexualised violence “if the purpose or effect of an unwanted sexually determined behaviour is to violate the dignity of the person concerned. Sexualised violence can occur verbally, non-verbally, through solicitation or through assault” (§2 Church Law on Protection against Sexualised Violence, EKBO).

We distinguish between three dimensions of sexualised violence:
Boundary violations
Sexual assaults
Criminally relevant forms of sexualised violence

1. Boundary violations
   Sexual boundary violations occur occasionally, are usually unintentional and can be characterized as professional or personal misconduct on the part of the person carrying them out. They can also be part of a strategy of the person committing the offense.
   Examples: unintentional hugs, the thoughtless use of pet names (“sweetie”, “sweetheart”), obscene looks when passing by, suggestive jokes with discriminatory or sexist content or unwanted entry into rooms…
2. Sexual assaults
   Sexual assaults are not accidental and unintentional, but are sexually motivated and targeted. The person committing the assault deliberately disregards rules and professional standards when dealing with other people. They use their own superiority, often by virtue of their office or function, to override the victim’s resistance. In some cases, sexual assaults can be interpreted as a strategic approach in preparation for criminal forms of sexualised violence.
   Examples: seemingly unintentional touching is repeated, deliberately sexist remarks are made, erotic products are shown to someone without being asked and unintentionally…
3. Criminally relevant forms of sexualised violence
   Criminally relevant forms of sexualised violence are listed in the German Criminal Code (StGB) as crimes against sexual self-determination. These include sexual abuse of charges, sexual assault, sexual coercion, promotion of sexual acts by minors, sexual abuse of minors, distribution of pornographic material, sexual harassment and others.

The forms described cannot always be clearly distinguished from one another. Each situation of sexualized violence must be considered as an individual case and carefully examined, assessed and classified by qualified contact persons.

The Code of Conduct
The Code of Conduct as a central element of the culture of prevention in the Protestant Church Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische Oberlausitz for the protection (not only) against sexualised violence was adopted for the prevention work of the Ecumenical Youth Services and published as a German/English A3 EYS poster version. With the Code of Conduct, all voluntary and professional employees of EYS undertake to protect children, young people and adults through their behaviour.

Contact person